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★★★★☆ King of Tokyo; If monsters battled by rolling dice.

Check out this game if: you are looking for a rowdy game with some conflict -but also a little strategy.This game stands out because it’s easy to get sucked into the theme. Rolling dice may not seem like the method monsters would fight with, but after rolling a few attacks in a row, your opponents will think twice before messing with you again.

There is just enough complexity and variety of winning to make this game interesting for teens and adults, but simple enough for young kids to participate.

Positive:1. Plays up to 6 players nicely.2. All players are involved with almost every other player’s3. Rules are clear and simple (for the age range).4. Easy to participate, but room to explore strategies.5. Two paths to victory can make for surprise endings.6. Great artwork really pulls people in.

Negative:1. Player elimination -though it’s captivating enough that I always stick around to see who wins.2. The variety of cards can be intimidating (but thorough explanations in the rule book helps a lot).3. Can get competitive -but the element of luck mitigates that a little.4. A few unlucky rolls and one player may feel picked on.

Brief Overview:All players pick a monster with it’s corresponding score and health tracker. Gaining 20 points wins you the game or win by being the last monster with health points. Using a Yahtzee style rolling mechanism, each player gets three rolls on their turn to either attack other players, heal themselves, gain victory points, or buy special powers.

The special powers that are printed on the cards add a lot of variety to the game, making each game potentially different than the last. It’s tempting to stay in Tokyo to gain victory points, but being in Tokyo makes you the target of all other monsters -adding a push your luck aspect to this game.

Number of Players

2-6

Age

6+

Time

45 mins

Friendly

★★☆☆☆

Teachable

★★★☆☆

Replayability

★★★★★

Creative Freedom

★★★★★

Inclusive (no elimination)

★☆☆☆☆

Versions:There is only one version of this game. There are two expansions which add variations -I highly recommend Power Up once you have played through the base game a few times. There is another game called King of New York. This is a similar game, but is slightly more complicated -also worth looking into once you’ve played the expansions a few times.

Teaching Advice:
Let everyone pick their characters first to gain their attention. Then explain the two ways to win, followed by the how to gain and lose points. There is no need to explain every card in the deck, just explain the cards as the appear in the market.